KPAI Chairperson Diyah Puspitarini stated in a webinar here on Wednesday that children are at high risk of becoming victims as they lack knowledge and skills in responding to disasters.
Puspitarini said that children's vulnerability during the emergency response phase and evacuation included limited access to health and education and falling victim to physical violence, sexual harassment and crimes, child marriage, and child trafficking.
Factors causing vulnerability in children are gaps in children, families, and parties carrying out emergency response as well as limited knowledge and skills of the community, including children, in responding to disasters.
Furthermore, some other factors that cause vulnerability in children also include lack of provision of support and services in emergency response, lack of child-friendly spaces in emergency shelters, limited psychosocial staff, and inadequate and non-separate toilets.
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Puspitarini referenced the devastating 2004 Aceh Tsunami, which resulted in 2,800 children being displaced from their families, damaged 1,488 schools, disrupted 150 thousand students' schooling, and led to 37 children becoming trafficking victims.
Meanwhile, the 2018 Palu tsunami aftermath witnessed 20 incidents of child abuse and sexual harassment within evacuation facilities, alongside 33 documented cases of underage marriages.
She revealed that the KPAI records from 2023 documented 70 reported cases involving children affected by the disasters.
Based on data from the National Disaster Mitigation Agency (BNPB), 45 million children live in earthquake-prone areas, while 1.5 million children live in tsunami-prone areas.
"There are 400 thousand children who live in areas at risk of volcanic eruption," she added.
In addition, 21 million children live in flood-prone areas and 14 thousand children reside in landslide-prone areas.
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Translator: Anita Permata, Raka Adji
Editor: Yuni Arisandy Sinaga
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